Psychedelic Drug Tapped for PTSD Therapy

Main ingredient of ecstasy rides the fast track to FDA approval.

A group of researchers is one step closer to bringing an unexpected drug
into the fray to help treat mental illness: ecstasy.

Psychotherapy that incorporates MDMA, the primary ingredient of ecstasy,
was designated in August as a Food and Drug Administration “breakthrough
therapy” for severe post-traumatic stress disorder. In other words, the
therapy is on the fast track toward approval.

“If you were to develop a drug to treat PTSD, you’d want it to do exactly
what MDMA does,” says Rick Doblin, founder and executive director of the
Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), which funds
and conducts the research.

When patients use MDMA, their memories and emotions become more vivid. And
in this state, patients experience less fear and anxiety attached to their
memories — enough to begin talking about and engaging with their trauma
under the supervision of a therapist in a safe environment.

MAPS’ phase 2 trial, which ended in 2016, found that 68 percent of patients
no longer had PTSD diagnoses. The next clinical trials start in spring
2018. Over 12 weeks, patients will have three daylong MDMA-assisted
sessions and a dozen 90-minute therapy sessions with no drugs.

“It’s known there isn’t a perfect solution for PTSD,” says Doblin. Various
styles of therapy and some medications can fail for many patients. Time
will tell if MDMA-assisted psychotherapy can change that.